Question: Solve for $x$. $-30=5(x+1)$ $x =$
Let's divide and then subtract to get $x$ by itself. $\begin{aligned}-30&=5(x+1) \\ \\\\ \dfrac{-30}{{5}} &= \dfrac{5(x+1)}{{5}} ~~~~~~~\text{divide each side by } {5}\\ \\ \dfrac{-30}{5} &= \dfrac{\cancel{5}(x+1)}{\cancel{{{5}}}} \\ \\ \dfrac{-30}{5}&= x+1\end{aligned}$ $\begin{aligned} -6&= x+1 \\ \\ -6 {-1}&= x+1{-1}~~~~{\text{subtract }1} \text{ to get } x \text{ by itself }\\ \\ -6{-1}&= x+\cancel{1}{-\cancel{1}}\\ \\ -6{-1} &=x\end{aligned}$ The answer: $x={-7}~~~~~~~~$ [Let's check our work!]